


Water is Ever Flowing

by darumasama



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Homophobia, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Internalized Homophobia, Multi, Will!drag queen, confused Nico, dealing with being a celebrity, gender fluid, over protective 'sisters', solangelo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-01
Updated: 2017-02-03
Packaged: 2018-09-21 09:18:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9541268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darumasama/pseuds/darumasama
Summary: Rae Sunshine was an international drag queen celebrity and icon for the LGBT community, but life of a celebrity isn't as easy as it looks until she meets Nico Di Angelo, someone that sees Will Solace underneath the mask known as Rae Sunshine.Terrible summary I know, but having almost a nonstop marathon of RuPaul's Drag Race on top of going to see a few of those beautiful ladies live had me constantly thinking of this AU, cause you know Solangelo forever :)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I know there are going to be errors in my writing. I try to filter through it to attempt to catch them, but unfortunately they fall through the cracks so I apologize.
> 
> Also, the two beautiful ladies that really inspired this are Courtney Act and Adore Delano. Both amazing singers and performers from season 6 of RuPaul's drag race. If you haven't heard them perform, then look them up. Amazingly beautiful the both of them. Although, Will is based after more of Courtney Act. :)

Nico let out a frustrated sigh as he sat in the VIP section of a very noisy gay club next to his very annoyingly excited girl friends and sister. It hadn’t been an easy task to convince him to go to a very obviously gay club despite the fact that he was gay, something he let only his closest friends and sister know about which was hard enough to do, but anything super open, such as being inside a gay club, was extremely outside his comfort zone. Nevertheless he was never able to say no to his younger sister’s pleading puppy dog eyes, especially when it came to celebrating her birthday. So here he was. In the middle of a gay club. About to watch a famous singer his sister was obsessed with that sometimes appeared in this very club where they had started off. Piper had informed them that she had on good authority that the singer would be here tonight despite the lack of advertisement, something that happened often to surprise those that came regularly to the club. How Piper knew this singer was going to be here? He had no idea, but Piper had her ways. It probably came with the territory that her father was a famous actor and knew all the right connections.

“Have a shot Nico,” Piper offered with the bottle of peach flavored vodka in her hand. “You need to lighten up a little. We are in a club celebrating your sister’s 21st birthday about to see one of the most influential singers of all times preform live.” His only response was to frown in annoyance and turn away from the girl, his mood only souring with each passing minute. If it wasn’t for the fact that they were in their own private section, he would have left the already body to body club dance floor.

“Nico!” his sister shouted a little louder than necessary, leaning shakily over the table between them so they were face to face. He could smell the alcohol on he breath as she grabbed his face between her hands. “You’re the best brother ever! I love you so much! I just want you to be happy!” She kissed his cheek gently before wrapping her arms around him and crying into his shoulder. He let out a heavy sigh as he pushed his sister back and gently wiped the tears from her beautiful golden eyes. With 2 shots and 3 drinks in her system, she was already drunk, an emotional drunk. He had warned her that if she drank too much she wouldn’t remember the show, but she just brushed him off saying it wasn’t the first time she had alcohol, much to his annoyance. 

“Don’t cry Hazel,” he smiled, lovingly pushing her wild golden brown hair away from her face. “It’s your birthday. You are about to meet your favorite singer. If you are going to cry then those better be tears of happiness.”

“Then drink this,” she smirked, golden eyes sparkling with mischief, a shot glass now in his hand. His lips pursed realizing that his sister wasn’t as drunk as she appeared to be previously. He was about to argue with her, but when she filled her eyes with fake tears he figured it would just be better to have a shot than deal with her pretending to cry. With a huff, he took the shot, nose scrunching up as it burned going down before slamming the shot glass onto the table. The three girls cheered as if he had won a fight.

“Can’t say no to the birthday girl,” Annabeth chuckled amusingly, nursing her brightly colored drink. 

“You ready to meet Rae Sunshine?” Piper asked Hazel, who couldn’t stop bouncing in her seat. 

“Rae Sunshine?” Nico laughed at the ridiculous name. “Seriously? That is her name?”

“Well not her real name,” Annabeth smiled as if she knew something that he didn’t, which she probably did. There was a reason no one questioned her in their small group of friends. 

“I should hope not,” Nico replied. “Although I think I find it more disturbing that she actually picked that name.”

“It suites her,” Piper grinned. “You’ll understand when you see her preform. Besides, she is such an inspiration to so many out there that have been through hard times in the LGBT community that she has quite literally become the only ray of sunshine in many people’s lives during those dark times.” 

He raised a dark eyebrow at his friend’s words. He hadn’t realized that the singer was part of that community, but he should have known better considering the setting they were currently sitting in. He was sure this Rae Sunshine was one of the many artists that Hazel tried to introduce him to, but he preferred his 1930‘s and 1940‘s music or as Hazel liked to call it, old man music. 

“If you ever left your cave you would know who she was,” Hazel stated as if being able to read his thoughts, which she pretty much could most of the time with her super sister powers.

“Miss Levesque,” the club manager approached. “If you are ready, I will show you to your seats for the show.”

The three girls shot out of their seats with shouts of joy, clinging their drinks together before being guided out of the VIP section to the show area. His dark eyes nervously flickered across the mass of people they were going to have to get through. Physical contact wasn’t something he was very comfortable with and the thought of having to push through the crowd of people made his body freeze in fear. It had been so long since he had a panic attack, but that was mostly due to him avoiding places that could trigger it, places like this club, full of people. Warm hands found the sides of his face, golden eyes meeting dark brown instantly calming his racing heart. 

“You can do this,” Hazel whispered causing him to nod with a small smile. He pulled her hands from his face, but didn’t let go as she dragged him through the crowd behind their two friends and the manager. Once they were seated in the front row in front of the stage he let out a shaky breath that he didn’t know he had been holding. 

“I know this isn’t easy for you,” she smiled softly giving his hand a gentle squeeze. “But I am really happy you came. Thank you.” A sisterly kiss was placed on his cheek, something that always made him smile. He loved his sister, she had been there for him during his darkest times when he felt like he was alone in the world. If having to deal with a crowded club for one night would make her smile, then it was worth it. 

“Anything for you, sorella.” he replied pulling her into a hug. “You ready to see this Rae Sunshine?” She nodded excitedly, her golden brown curls bouncing almost as excitedly as she was. As if feeling her excitement, the lights darkened drastically, the biggest source of light now focused on the stairs to the side of the stage they were currently sitting in front of. Hazel’s grip on his hand tightened as if trying to pass her enthusiasm to him. He chuckled softly as his eyes went from his sister to the top of the stairs to gawk at the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. 

Beautiful blue eyes surrounded by sun tanned skin peppered with freckles, long golden locks gently framing her face like halo of light. It took his breath away. Then she began to sing as she gracefully glided down the stairs, her body moving in hypnotic rhythms with the music. Once she reach the bottom of the stairs, blue eyes held brown for only a moment, but it felt like an eternity. When those eyes turned away, he let out a stuttered breath. 

As he watched Rae Sunshine preform, he was seriously starting to question if he was bisexual instead of gay. Sure he admired some exceptionally beautiful woman for just being beautiful, but Rae Sunshine was something else. Before he knew it, her performance was over and she was disappearing backstage with a wave and a smile. He was so focused on the last spot he had seen Rae Sunshine that he jumped when new music began to play. Another performer came down the same staircase that Rae Sunshine had, but he was no longer interested. 

As the show progressed, he started to notice that none of the new performers were actually singing just lip syncing to popular songs and some suspiciously looked like men dressed as women, which he quickly blamed on the bad lighting of the club. He couldn’t be happier once all the other performers were done which meant that they would probably be leaving soon. 

“Piper!” an unfamiliar girl’s voice shouted over the crowd. A dark haired girl with bright green eyes emerged beside them dressed in a business suit, an earpiece discreetly hidden in her ear covered mostly by her hair. 

“Lou Ellen!” Piper squealed as she pulled the other girl into a hug. “Thanks so much for giving us the heads up about tonight. It lined up perfectly for Hazel’s birthday!” She grabbed Hazel’s hand to introduce the two. 

“You ready to meet Rae Sunshine?” Lou Ellen asked Hazel, who once again started bouncing up and down unable to contain her emotions. She smiled and motioned for their group to follow her to the door that Rae Sunshine had disappeared behind earlier that night. Although he didn’t show it, he was just as excited about meeting the singer as his sister was. They were lead down a small hallway, passing by a couple of the other performers from earlier that night before they reached a door with a star on it. Lou Ellen knocked a random melody on the door earning a laugh from the angel that was hidden inside. 

“Hi birthday girl,” Rae Sunshine smiled as she opened the door taking Hazel’s hands in her own. “Did you enjoy the show?”

“Y-yes,” Hazel squeaked nervously. “Oh my gods, I am actually talking to Rae Sunshine! The best and most beautiful singer in the world.” This earned another laugh from the singer and Nico couldn’t help feel like it was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard. He leaned against the wall feigning disinterest with his arms crossed looking anywhere but the singer.

“Bless your heart," Rae Sunshine smiled poking Hazel’s nose. “Aren’t you just cute as a button.” A Southern drawl coming out making Nico blush at how adorable she sounded. He seriously didn’t know how much more he could take of this, because it had him questioning everything he had come to accept about himself. He let out a heavy sigh as he ran his hand down his face. Gods, he was such a mess. 

“Annabeth! It’s been a while.” The two blonds hugged as if they were long lost friends.

“And who is this mister dark and mysterious?” she asked drawing Nico from his thoughts to look up regretfully into those crystal clear blue eyes. 

“This is my older brother, Nico.” Hazel answered with a bright smile.

“Nice to meet you, Nico.” Rae Sunshine greeted with an extending hand for him to shake, but he could only just keep staring into those memorizing eyes. 

“Nico,” Annabeth coughed while giving him an elbow to the ribs. He shook his head before taking the offered hand before him. It was wonderfully warm and soft, so much so that he quickly pulled away as if the touch burned him.

“S-sorry,” Nico apologized, “I was just kind of thinking about work.” It was a lie, but no one needed to know about his crush on a woman this moment. The only thing he could think of was the shot he took earlier, but that wasn’t nearly enough to make women seem attractive to him, he had tried.

“Oh?” Rae Sunshine beamed in amusement. “And what is it that you do?”

“He is a professional gamer,” Piper answered for him, her eyes sparkling in amusement. “So you must forgive his lack of people skills, he does live under a rock.” That comment earned her a heated glare from Nico, but she was long used to his death glare that it didn’t even phase her, instead it made her smile.

“No worries,” Rae Sunshine laughed. “Sometimes being around people all the time can become quite tiresome. Which reminds me,” she turned to face Hazel again, but not without giving Nico a playful wink. “Would the birthday girl and her friends care to join us at my penthouse?”

“Really?” Hazel asked completely surprised.

“But of course,” she winked. “The night is still young and you only turn 21 once.”

“You can thank Piper,” Lou Ellen whispered to Hazel with a smile. “She can be pretty convincing when she wants to be.”

“Are you sure?” Hazel asked Rae Sunshine with a look of concern Nico knew all too well. “Don’t you have a concert tomorrow night in D.C.?”

“Don’t worry about me, sugar.” Rae Sunshine reassured her with another sparkling smile that made Nico’s heart flutter. “Although, because of that I will have to leave a bit early, but feel free to stay the night.”  
“We should head out now then,” Lou Ellen suggested, pressing her hand to her right ear, but casually playing it off as she pushed a lock of hair out of her face. “It seems that more people are flooding to the club with the news that you were here tonight. Cecil has the car waiting out back. If you would please follow me.” The group followed Lou Ellen through more hallways with Rae Sunshine, Hazel and Piper taking the lead while Nico and Annabeth brought up the rear. He couldn’t help but notice the occasional glances Rae Sunshine gave him.

“So what’s the deal with Rae Sunshine?” Nico asked Annabeth turning his attention away from said person. “How much did you guys pay her to have this private party just for Hazel?”

“Nothing,” Annabeth answered flatly, her grey eyes analyzing his reaction which he knew was that of surprise. 

“What?”

“Rae Sunshine isn’t in it for the money,” she continued with a smile. “She does things like this all the time. With the limited spare time she has, she goes and sees people that normally wouldn’t be able to see her. Mainly children in the hospital, but she does crash a few birthday parties of kids that write her. She also has houses all over the country that kids can go to if their parents kick them out for being different. Piper wasn’t joking when she said Rae Sunshine is a ray of sunshine for so many.”

“Sounds like a publicity stunt to me.” Nico frowned as he glanced back at the beautiful blond singer, wondering just how much of her personality was an act. 

“She did it before she was famous,” Annabeth interjected, shaking her head. “I would know, I knew her a little before. We went to the same college where she was studying to be a doctor. I didn’t know her well then, I barely know her now, but everyone knew she was the one to go to if you needed help. Of course, she wasn’t Rae Sunshine then.”

“She was studying to be a doctor?”

“Seriously Nico,” Annabeth chided. “You really need to get out sometimes.” He had so many more questions, but they had already arrived at the black SUV waiting patiently outside. A dirty blond head of hair popped out of the the driver side window wearing a Cheshire grin as if he had just pulled off the best prank.

“Rae!” the driver called out. “There a reason you looking extra dolled up tonight after your performance?” The way the man dragged the word 'after’ out implied underlining implications of something that Nico couldn’t quite pin, but effectively made the singer start to blush fiercely. “Does it have something to do with that tall, brooding, dark haired...” He could feel his ears start to burn the further the driver continued to describe him thankfully saved by a very annoyed Lou Ellen.

“Cecil!” Lou Ellen shouted throwing a yarn ball (which seemingly appeared out of nowhere) at him effectively shutting the driver up as it hit him in the middle of the face. “Can you try to act at least a little bit professional in front of others?” She let out a tired sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “I must apologize for Cecil’s behavior, I would like to say that he isn’t usually like this, but I would be lying. He’s an idiot.” Cecil promptly gave the party a thumbs up as if everything said was a complement instead of an insult. 

“Hop in the Rae Sunshine express also known as Apollo’s chariot!” Cecil laughed clearly amused with himself. “Next stop: The Rae Sunshine penthouse, were the sun goes to sleep every night.” He paused for a second before laughing. “Well, almost every night. It changes depending on where it needs to shine the brightest.”

“Cecil...” Rae Sunshine muttered in embarrassment pinching her nose. “Every time? Really?”

“You know me!”

“Unfortunately,” she joked with a playful roll of her eyes before helping Piper, Hazel and Annabeth into the SUV. Not wanting to be lectured by his sister about not being a gentleman, he offered his hand to assist the singer into the car. Their hands touched, eyes locked sending a jolt of electricity through his body. “Thanks, darlin’” She smiled before disappearing into the car to sit next to Hazel. Begrudgingly, he jumped into the back next to Annabeth wishing more than anything this night would be over before Rae Sunshine became his undoing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lucky you, I couldn't stop writing this so here is another chapter.
> 
> Also this is from Will/Rae's perspective so it will be flipping from he to she and vice versa kind of like Alex Fierro from Magnus Chase. Alex is amazing :)

Will Solace let out a tired sigh as he looked at his reflection in the mirror, but it wasn’t him staring back, it was Rae Sunshine. Before, when he was younger, Rae Sunshine was who she was when she wanted to be beautiful. Now, Rae Sunshine had taken over, he was no longer Will Solace, she was now Rae Sunshine. That was all people saw her for, nothing more, nothing less. Even her best friends Cecil and Lou Ellen were slowly falling into just seeing Rae Sunshine even when she didn’t have all the bells and whistles on that made her Rae Sunshine. True, there were days when she would refer to herself as Rae despite not dressing the part, but now she hated it. It was so easy to slip into being Rae all the time when that was all anyone around you saw.

“The show must go on,” she whispered to herself adding the final touch of mascara and putting on a smile. The familiar knock of the beginning “I’m Still Here” from Disney’s Treasure Planet made a genuine smile tug at her lips. It was Lou Ellen’s, Cecil’s and her special knock they used when sneaking to each others houses in the middle of the night when they didn’t want to be alone. It was something they still used to this day to let her know that it wasn’t the paparazzi or crazed fan. With a bright smile, she opened the door to be greeted by her two best friends.

“You ready Rae Rae?” Cecil asked with his usual lopsided dorky smile. “They have no idea that you are going to be here tonight. Well, other than the birthday party Lou Ellen invited.” His blue eyes darted over to the dark haired girl wearing a tired look.

“You have never met Piper McLean,” Lou Ellen countered with a tired sigh. “Besides, I arranged for all the rest of this Hazel Levesque’s friends and boyfriend to be brought to the penthouse so we will have a great distraction to keep on schedule and allow Rae to rest up a bit before the D.C. show.”

“Why weren’t all of her friends with her tonight?” Rae asked curiously. She couldn’t imagine spending any of her birthdays without her two best friends, without them, she was alone.

“It would be too many people for a club,” Lou Ellen smiled slyly. “Which is how I was able to convince them to do a small group here only to surprise the birthday girl when we get to the penthouse. Which also got you out of having to do pictures for hours until the club closed, you are welcome.”

“Lou Ellen,” Cecil whistled. “Always working her magic of the mist to keep her real intentions hidden.” He grinned. “And anything we don’t want to unveil.”

“Thanks Lou, Cecil,” Rae smiled pulling her friends into a group hug that was awkward due to her towering over the other two, mainly due to her heels. “I don’t know what I would do without you guys.”

“Probably go completely insane like Lindsey Lohan and Britney Spears.” Cecil joked making a shaving of the head motion to get his point across. The trio erupted into laughter, something that was always needed before any show and Cecil was just the person to make everyone laugh. Lou Ellen touched her ear gently as she listened to the radio communication with a few short nods. Her green eyes looked up into blue with a bright smile as she fussed over a few loose strands of blond that fell into Rae’s face.

“Beautiful as always,” Lou Ellen commented as she kissed Rae on the nose to avoid most of her make-up. “Now go knock them dead.”

“I will,” Rae answered with her most beautiful smile before heading off down the hallway wishing luck to the girls that were competing after her performance. She remembered when she was in their shoes and how nervous she had been being judged by other drag superstars. It was alway nice to have someone you looked up to wish you luck before and she hoped that it helped her fellow queens. With a deep breath, she exited the door to begin her performance. 

 

*****

Rae Sunshine sighed as she was finally able to break away to her room as the surprise birthday party hit full swing. Tonight was supposed to be like any other night, do her performance and follow Lou Ellen’s lead afterwards. What she wasn’t expecting was there to be a deliciously beautiful dark haired, pale skinned, dark eyed man to be in the front row. There had been many gorgeous men in the front row of her concerts or in line to get their picture taken with her or maybe an autograph. However, he didn’t look at her as a the shiny celebrity everyone wanted to say the met or visualizing her naked. No. His eyes were just filled with pure wonder and a bit of confusion at probably the idea of her not actually being female.

“Gods,” she sighed burying her face in her hands as she took a deep breath to calm herself down. She hadn’t expected to see the man she was fantasizing of after her performance again. Although a little voice in the back of her head told her that she should have expected it since the birthday party group would be sitting in the front row. She had a couple of chances to talk to him during the party, but even if she did, he would only see her for her fame, not herself. There was truth in the saying ‘It is lonely at the top’. 

A frustrated sigh escaped her as she grabbed her make-up remover putting a generous amount on a clean towel before wiping half of her face clean. Unfamiliar blue eyes stared back at her, shaking her to her core. Furiously, she wiped the rest of the make-up off before she looked into the familiar eyes of Will Solace with a sad smile. 

He wondered how long he would be allowed to be male before everyone practically forced him to be his female self. Carefully, he removed his wig and placed it on the correct headstand in his first walk-in closet dedicated just to wigs. His eyes scanned the various ones he never uses anymore, time to donate them to future queens again. The light for the closet turned off as he exited and made his way to the next closet to hang up his outfit on the ‘needs to be dry cleaned’ side. Again, blue eyes scanned the various outfits, most he had only worn once. How had his life become so materialistic? Buying so many things that he didn’t need just so he wouldn’t be seen in the same outfit more than once, at least his female outfits. 

No one really knew him as a man anymore or didn’t seem to care, so if he wore the same obnoxious orange shirt with beige knee length shorts and cheap white flip-flops no one would give him a second glance. At the thought of his normal outfit, he made his way to the small dresser, pulled out the clothes and spread them on the bed so they wouldn’t wrinkle while he took a shower. He casually kicked his heels into his third closet, not even caring anymore because if he put them in their proper place, he would only have to look upon all the meaningless items he had and rarely used twice.

Once in the bathroom, he removed the rest of his clothing, lazily throwing them toward the general direction of the hamper. The heated tiles felt soothing on his tired feet. Despite having been in heels for years, it was nice to not have to wear them from time to time. He haphazardly tossed his accessories across the large vanity before entering the large shower. With the push of a simple button, already hot water poured over him washing away the last traces of Rae Sunshine for the time being. 

Another tired sigh escaped him as he rested his head on the tile thinking about how his life had come to this. Winning drag shows at the local gay club was just a way for earning some extra money to help pay for the rent for the small apartment he shared with Lou Ellen and Cecil while they went to college - well, Lou Ellen and Will went to college. He hadn’t expected it to go anywhere, he wanted to be a doctor and if being Rae Sunshine helped him with his dream, then so be it. 

However, one evening when the trio was watching one of their favorite shows, an ad for American Idol auditions played and that was when his life had changed. It was meant to be a joke, to get Cecil off his back about him not being a good enough singer to get onto the show and he was right. As Will Solace he had been denied a spot, but when Cecil begged him to try again as Rae Sunshine, he laughed it off saying that they would obviously notice that he was the same person. To all of their surprise, Rae Sunshine made it onto the show. She made it all the way to the finals without anyone knowing that she was actually a he, much to Lou Ellen’s magical gift to direct people’s attention away to things they didn’t want noticed. Her becoming part of the backstage crew to help him was an entirely different story altogether. After Rae Sunshine became the runner-up, she announced to the world her story an instant international celebrity overnight. 

Will closed his eyes remembering that single moment he wished he could take back. He had to drop out of college due to the amount of people constantly harassing him which in turn caused Lou Ellen to drop out as well to become his manager and barrier to the outside world. Cecil encouraged him to take some of the offers, save up and go back to college when his popularity died down. ‘It wouldn’t last that long’ he had said with that stupid optimistic smile. That had been 7 years ago and it only seemed Rae Sunshine’s popularity continued to sky rocket. He even competed on RuPaul’s Drag Race making it all the way to the finals, but not winning. Not like it mattered, Rea Sunshine’s fame was here to stay. So instead of trying to find ways to fade into the background again, Will Solace became Rae Sunshine, the shining beckon of hope for the LGBT community. While he was still able to help people like he always wanted to, he felt like he had to give up part of himself to make others happy. But was his happiness, one person’s happiness, worth the happiness of all the people’s lived he had touched by just being Rae Sunshine? 

A sob racked his body for a brief second before he contained himself, but the tears didn’t stop. It was only in the shower was he able to cry because it was the only time he truly had to himself. He couldn’t cry in front of his friends because he didn’t want them to worry. Growing up, Lou Ellen had always been extremely attuned to his emotions being able to tell when something was bothering him, but over the years, he had been able to put on a complete mask to cover his emotions, Rae Sunshine. 

“The show must go on,” he whispered sadly before washing up quickly and turning off the water. He wrapped a towel around his waist, another one tossed on his head to keep his curly blond locks from dripping everywhere. He dried himself off quickly, got changed and dried his hair before walking to the door to peak outside.

The party was still going, music played loudly while it seemed like almost all the invited friends were dancing with a partner for a more romantic song - Lou Ellen and Cecil included - there was one person that was the odd man out standing outside on the balcony looking down at the busy city below, blowing little puffs of smoke from a cigarette. That made him frown in disapproval, his doctor self taking over as he stormed to the balcony to give the man, named Nico, a piece of his mind. 

“You know smoking is bad for you,” Will frowned as he stepped onto the balcony earning an annoyed look from the dark haired man, who casually proceeded to take another drag just to spite him.

“Really?” Nico replied as he puffed the smoke out. “I thought it was candy. I knew I shouldn’t have taken candy from strangers.” He took one last drag before crushing it out on the railing and turning to finally meet the other’s eyes. Will couldn’t help but notice that the other gave him a questioning look, warm brown eyes eyeing him warily. “Aren’t you cold?”

“What?” he blinked completely taken off guard by the random question.

“It is almost winter in New York,” Nico stated, obviously eyeing his attire of a t-shirt and shorts. “You have to be freezing.”

“The cold never bothered me,” Will shrugged, placing his elbows on the railing and looking out at the city trying to calm his racing heart. He couldn’t believe he having a somewhat normal conversation with this guy as Will Solace, but he knew deep down he would eventually ask for Rae Sunshine. 

“Whatever Elsa,” Nico quipped with a sly smirk causing Will to laugh. It felt so good to laugh at someone other than Cecil. 

“I am too dark to pull that off,” he commented as he waved his tan skinned freckled hand as if to prove his point. “You might be able to though.” At his statement the other frowned deeply, and he started to panic thinking he had offended him. “I-I m-mean solely based on complexion.” Blue and brown stared at each other for a heartbeat before both men turned away with slight blushes on their cheeks. 

“So why are you out here instead of enjoying the party?” Will asked hoping to break away from his previous embarrassing conundrum. Brown eyes quickly glanced inside, before rolling in annoyance turning back to the city. 

“Unfortunately for me,” Nico sighed. “All my friends and family are in a long term relationship.” Will looked back inside at the couples, but they seemed to separate to talk to others, sometimes it was a couple with a couple, other times it was girls while the boys were on the other side, but most of the time it seemed to be an even mix. 

“You could still be in there with your sister for her birthday,” he suggested with a small smile only to receive a confused look.

“How do you know Hazel?”

“I don’t,” he blinked confused at the question. “I just met her.” He was completely baffled at why Nico would be asking such a thing. The guy was obviously there when it happened. Did he suffer from short term memory loss? Nico eyed him suspiciously.

“You must be Rae Sunshine’s brother,” he stated matter of factly causing Will to burst out laughing. He bent over holding his stomach he was laughing so hard. He didn’t know how long he had been laughing, but after he could finally contain himself it hurt to breathe and dried tears of joy stained his cheeks. 

“What’s so funny?!” Nico demanded, an edge of anger in his voice.

“I’m sorry,” Will chuckled lightly wiping the dried tears from his eyes. “I’m not her brother, Nico. I am Rae Sunshine, well at least not at the moment. Haven’t you ever heard of a drag queen?” The look on the other’s face was almost comical with how wide his eyes went in shock.

“W-what?!” Nico stuttered still in complete shock. Will couldn’t help but give him a small apologetic smile.

“I apologize,” he sighed looking back at the crowd of people inside before looking back into confused brown eyes. “I thought they told you. Or a least you would have figured it out during the show.” He watched as the other leaned his forehead against the cold railing letting out a low chuckle.

“Well now it all makes sense,” Nico sighed softly covering his face with his hands and an added groan.

“I really am sorry,” Will apologized again feeling bad to drop such a bomb on the poor guy. Being introduced to drag could be pretty shocking for most, especially if you went to a drag show not even knowing it was a drag show. Although, he was pretty shocked that Nico hadn’t figured it out at all during the entire show and began to wonder if the guy really did live under rock as the brunette Piper had suggested.

“Let’s start over,” he suggested lightly hoping it would bring Nico out of shock as he offered a hand. The dark hair guy slid his hands down his face before standing back up straight looking at the offered hand questioningly before nervously shaking it. “I am Will Solace, but I am a professional drag queen that goes by the name of Rae Sunshine. It is nice to meet you.”

“Nico,” the other answered with small specks of red crossing his cheeks. “Nico Di Angelo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so Will's backstory is similar to Courtney Act. :) seriously look her up, amazing. *Hearts for days*


	3. Chapter 3

“I should make you watch a season of RuPaul’s drag race,” Will suggested with a smile dragging Nico out of his thoughts of how beautiful the other looked regardless of which gender he was dressed as. At lease now being attracted to a ‘woman’ made much more sense even if it did still make him slightly uncomfortable. He noticed he was still holding/shaking the other’s hand after they had ‘reintroduced’ each other and tried to pull away, but instead was dragged into what looked like an entertainment/game room. Normally he wouldn’t let something like this happen and would quickly run away to his comfort zone, but there was something about Will’s presence that was oddly comforting. That and he had a huge crush on said person even if they had just met. Again, something that would also make him go running, but the blond was so intriguing that he just let go of his natural reaction to run away. 

He let out a whistle of amazement when he finally tore his eyes away from Will to actually look at the room they were standing in. Even being a professional gamer, he didn’t have a fraction of the equipment that was in the room - okay, maybe he did, but it was still impressive.

“You probably know more about the stuff in this room than I do,” Will chuckled nervously, running a hand through his curly blond hair. “I only know how to pretty much turn on the TV and get to Hulu and Netflix, occasionally the cable if I put in the effort to figure it out.” Nico couldn’t help but laugh at Will looking at the various remotes and controllers on the table as if they were poisonous snakes about ready to bite him. 

“For someone that was going to be a doctor,” he continued to laugh. “One would think you’d be able to use a TV.” Blue eyes shot up to meet his, wide with shock.

“How...” Will started then quickly looked away chewing on his bottom lip for a moment before he continued. “How did you know that I wanted to be a doctor?”

“Annabeth told me,” Nico responded automatically, confused by the other’s surprised reaction. “You act as if no one really knows that.”

“Because they don’t,” Will admitted with a sad smile as he sat on the couch looking at his hands in his lap. “When you become as big of a celebrity as Rae Sunshine, everything else kind of fades into the background.” Everything about his posture looked broken, but it was gone almost as quickly as it had come replaced by a bright smile. “But speaking of things that people don’t know about,” he grinned as he picked up a remote to turn on the TV, then hit the conveniently labeled Hulu button. “Or one person doesn’t know about.” He winked playfully. “Consider RuPaul’s Drag Race as your introduction to drag.”

Nico wanted to ask him about it, but he didn’t know the guy well enough to be prying into his personal life. He knew what it felt like to have someone pry into things that were supposed to remain hidden until he was ready to admit it aloud. If Will didn’t want to talk about it, he wasn’t going to push the matter even though the defeated look made his heart clench painfully. He took a seat next to the blond, keeping a respectful distance while watching the other’s expression turn to annoyance directed at the TV.

“I would have you start with season one,” Will said with a heavy sigh. “But unfortunately Hulu doesn’t think the first three seasons matter. I have them somewhere in this mass amount of technology, but we would die of old age before I found them. So I guess we will have to start with season four.”

“Did you compete in this?” he asked curiously.

“Yeah,” Will answered shyly, a blush creeping across his beautifully freckled cheeks. “But you don’t want to watch that season.”

“Get kicked off on the first episode?” he teased amused when the other pursed his lips in annoyance that only made him look adorable.

“I made it to the final three I’ll have you know,” Will countered then stuck out his tongue childishly only making Nico’s heart flutter and face heat up. He hadn’t felt this way about anyone since he got over his stupid crush on his friend Percy in high school. Maybe it was because he was constantly running away from new people that he never got the opportunities to have these kinds of interactions, but then again he hadn’t been so attracted to any passing stranger until now. Gods, Will Solace was definitely going to be the end of him.

“But if you want to watch it...” Will sighed, his face bright red. “We can, you just can’t make fun of me okay?” That made him curious as to what happened during Will’s season that had him so flustered about another watching it. Suddenly he couldn’t filter his thoughts and just started asking all the questions of possible things that could go wrong while filming a reality tv series. 

“Did you fall?”

“No!”

“Have a costume malfunction?”

“No!”

“Get caught doing something you weren’t supposed to?”

“W-what?!” Will stuttered, bright red moving to his ears much to Nico’s amusement. “No! Nico stop! It is just weird to watch okay!” The blond buried his face into his hands in an attempt to hide his embarrassment with a groan. “It isn’t like I am an actor or actress watching how well I did my performance. I am just watching...me. It can be a little...odd.”

“I’m sorry,” Nico apologized regretting being to brash about the situation. He honestly didn’t know what had gotten into him. Ever since he had first seen Will as Rae Sunshine his emotions had been all over. Then coming to find out that Rae Sunshine was Will just shocked his system so badly that he was making rash choices he would have never made. He wished he could regret his decisions so far, but opening up a little to Will and getting to know him a little better was nicer then he would ever admit.

“It’s okay,” Will softly replied moving up the seasons until he settled on one that was in the middle and pressed play.

“You don’t have to...” Nico started only to be interrupted by Will just shaking in his head with a small smile.

“It’s okay,” he laughed softly, blue eyes looking up at the large screen as the season’s queens slowly entered and introduced themselves until Rae Sunshine was the last to enter. At her appearance all the other queen gasped in surprise leaving no question that everyone knew exactly who she was. 

The two watched in silence as the episodes went by, Nico occasionally glancing over towards the blond when a soft groan or sigh escaped him at something that he had said or done. Although, he could never quite tell why. Throughout the few episodes he had already watched, Rae was so sweet and kind to the others that everyone instantly loved her. They all started calling her the ‘mother hen’ - despite being one of the younger queens - since she would fuss over the others about small rashes, or a cut while they were making something, blisters from shoes or a lecture about having a corset too tight. One queen even tripped during a performance and Rae was the first one to rush to her aid, quickly helping her to sit down to examine the nasty cut on the other’s knee. Even going to the point of ruining her own garment to wrap it up before the medic could even make it onstage. She would even stop doing her tasks to help those that were struggling or upset about a recent critique. Always wanting nothing more, but everyone to be happy.

A sudden warmth and pressure on his right made him jump slightly only to notice Will had fallen asleep on his shoulder. Blood rushed to his face as he quickly looked away, biting his lip nervously. He knew he should wake the other up, but he just couldn’t do it when he looked back at the sleeping blond. For one, Will looked exhausted, something he was surprised he hadn’t noticed until now. Then there was the fact that while sleeping, he looked even more beautiful with his soft pink lips slight parted... 

Nico shook his head and turned away as his entire body seemed to be set on fire. He was struggling so much with his mixed emotions that he didn’t notice someone entering the room until the they cleared their throat. Confused brown met annoyed green.

“Why are you here?” the dark haired woman that he was sure was named Lou Ellen asked with arms crossed over her chest and an annoyed expression. “This part of the house is off limits or can you not read the signs?” Her eyes briefly glanced towards the sleeping blond before their furry were back on Nico.

“W-will brought me here.” he explained feeling more heat rush to his face in embarrassment. 

“Well, he’s asleep. So you can leave.” she curtly stated as she gently slipped her hand between Will’s head and Nico’s shoulder coaxing the blond to lean into the opposite side of the couch until he was laying against the armrest. The entire time, the blond didn’t show any signs of waking, only curled into himself as Lou Ellen grabbed a blanket from a hidden compartment on the side of the couch and gently placing it on top of the blond with a small smile. A smile similar to the one his sister gave him when she was helping him during his darker times and had to tuck him into bed. The smile instantly disappeared when she realized he was still sitting there.

“Come,” she demanded, brushing past him towards the door expecting him to follow which he did, but not before sparing a glance back at the sleeping blond. Once out in the hallway, he was abruptly pushed into the wall with a long black pointed fingernail in his face, surprisingly strong for a smaller woman. 

“Not a word of this to anyone,” Lou Ellen threatened. “Will doesn’t need the paparazzi prying into his private matters or creating false rumors. Believe me when I say this, you don’t want to cross me Nico Di Angelo, I can ruin your life if you hurt Will.” So surprised by everything that just happened he could only nod. “Good,” she falsely smiled as she backed away and pulled out her Ipad. “Sign here saying that everything that happened tonight will never be talked about again and you can leave.” He blindly took the offered tablet pen and signed before he darted away as quickly as possible. 

It wasn’t until the way that Lou Ellen had approached him that he realized he had forgotten that Will was an international celebrity. Even though nothing had happened between them, he could understand what the paparazzi would do if they found out that Will was hanging out alone with a stranger in the middle of the night. He wasn’t even mad at the woman for being so diligent to keep Will safe, he actually respected her. 

The first light of morning had him seeing spots for a couple of seconds while his eyes adjusted to the light. How long had he been with Will? Glancing at his watch, the numbers read 0630. While he was used to being a night owl, and still being up at this hour wasn’t out of the norm, spending a couple of hours with a stranger without realizing it was shocking. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he hurriedly called a cab to take him home. The entire ride, he kept replaying everything that had happened that night.

He had been confused that he was attracted to a woman, only to find out that she was actually a he. It had made him feel a bit better knowing that in the end he was still attracted to a guy, but it only led to more questions. If he was attracted to Will even when he was dressed as Rae, did that make him gay or bi? Why did Will make him feel so comfortable even if they had just met? Was he attracted to Rae because it was love at first sight or somewhere in the dark corners of his mind he really knew Rae was a guy?

When the cabby yelled at him that they had arrived, he silently cursed for not paying attention and quickly payed the man before running up the stairs to his condo. Once inside, he slammed the door closed and leaned against it. Everything about last night scared him to the point he felt like he was that frighten teenage boy again afraid to admit his own feelings. He quickly shook his head in hopes to get rid of the dark thoughts. Sleep. He just needed to sleep this off. Stripping down to just his boxers, he crawled into his bed and instantly fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the rushed ending with Nico running home. I was trying to finish it before I went to work. I might add to it later, but we will see. :) Hope you enjoyed it anyways.


	4. Chapter 4

“Will,” Will heard Lou Ellen softly say giving him a gentle nudge. He cracked one eye open with a groan looking up at her for a brief moment before pulling the blanket over his head in retaliation. “I’m sorry, but we have to go. You can sleep in the car and on the plane.” She continued gently coaxing him to lower the blanket with a sigh. When the blanket was removed from his face, she gave him an apologetic smile. He glanced around the room noticing that Nico was nowhere to be seen which didn’t surprise him. The man either left after he had fallen asleep or Lou Ellen chased him away. 

“Did you chase Nico away?" he asked sitting up and rubbing his eyes. Deep down he was hoping that when he woke up that Nico would still be there much like a cheesy romance movie, but life was never like that, especially for a celebrity. He wasn’t really mad at her, she was only looking out for his best interest, but this hadn’t been like one of his rare nights of bad judgment. It was a night of simple innocence and happiness. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt so relaxed. It had been nice to talk to someone that didn’t look at him like a celebrity or treat him like one. Sure there were times when he could have moments like that with his two best friends, but those moments were short and few. Something always happened to break it up almost as soon as it had started. 

“You had already fallen asleep,” Lou Ellen answered with a sigh sitting next to him taking his hands into her own. “I’m sorry Will, but there was no reason for him to stay any longer. If you want, I can get you his phone number so you can talk to him again.”

“What?” he blinked completely taken aback. Lou Ellen would never offer him a chance to see a guy again, yet alone offer his phone number. Then again, normally the guys she chased off weren’t anyone he would care to see again anyways. 

“You like him,” she chuckled softly pinching his cheek playfully. He quickly looked away knowing it did him no good because Lou Ellen had definitely already seen the raging blush spreading across his cheeks. “And while I will still treat him like anyone else that gets close in order to protect you so we won’t have another He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named incident,” He tensed slightly only to have Lou Ellen take his face between her hands gently. “I am willing to give him a chance because last night when I was watching the two of you, I could see something there.”

“Lou...” he sighed biting his lip. “I can’t, you know that.” The painful memories of the man he dated for a year came crashing back. His ex had only wanted to date him in order to add to his own fame, and when it had reached the point were being together didn’t benefit him any longer, he left. It had hurt so badly to be used then tossed aside being told that all the special little moments they had were fake. While he loved the other dearly, it was unrequited. Afterwards, he never let anyone new get close to him romantically, just a series of one-night-stands when he was feeling lonely that Lou Ellen always took care of.

“Maybe it is time,” she smiled sadly wiping away the tears that he didn’t know he had been crying. It scared him that he let his sadness show to this degree in front of his friend, he hadn’t slipped in years. The careful mask of fake happiness that he had crafted was slowly starting to crumble. 

****

Rae looked down at her phone, Nico’s name and phone number on the screen that Lou Ellen had taken the liberty of imputing. She had been contemplating calling Nico since they arrived in D.C. and now she only had thirty minutes until her concert without even being any closer to an answer as of what to do. The screen dimmed slightly from disuse before she tapped it so the screen wouldn’t disappear. A familiar knock sounded on her door.

“Come in,” she answered, eyes never leaving the screen knowing it was either Cecil or Lou Ellen about to enter.

“Still debating?” Cecil asked as he came to stand next to her so they could both stare at the phone screen as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

“Yeah,” she replied with a defeated sigh. “It could be such a bad idea. I don’t even know what I would say. I am sure Lou Ellen absolutely terrified him. What if he laughs at me calling him like some kind of desperate love-sick girl? What if he thinks I’m a stalker for getting his phone number?What if he finally let it sink in what a drag queen is and is disgusted with it? What if...”

“What if, what if, what if.” Cecil interjected with a frown. “You can’t live in the world of what if’s. Just do it.” He quickly hit the call button before running away laughing, slamming the door behind him. So shocked at what at just happened, the thought of ending the call didn’t even cross her mind until the other answered.

“H-hello?” Nico’s voice answered groggily as if he was just getting up. She just stared at the phone dumbly until Nico spoke again. “Who is this?”

“N-nico.” Rae finally stuttered out, but unable to find the ability to form other words.

“Will?” he replied, recognition in his voice. It made Will smile at the simple fact that Nico had recognized his voice. 

“Or Rae Sunshine,” Will laughed. “Whatever you prefer.”

“Which do you prefer?” Something about that simple question had tears threatening to spill from his eyes. When was the last time that someone had taken into consideration which gender he wished to identify with at that moment?

“Well, Rae Sunshine’s concert is soon,” he answered automatically. 

“You don’t sound like Rae Sunshine right now.” Nico simply stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Will hadn’t even noticed that despite being dressed as Rae Sunshine, he didn’t identify with being female at that moment. How had Nico noticed that before he did? When had he even switched?

“What?”

“N-nevermind,” Nico stuttered on the other end. “Why are you calling? How did you even get my number?” Will sucked in a painful breath knowing how horrible it looked that he had Nico’s phone number, but was never actually given it.

“I’m sorry,” he blurted out before the other could say how creepy he was being. “Lou put it in my phone. She has ways of getting things she wants. I apologize how she probably treated you last night. She is practically my sister and has always been super protective. I hope she wasn’t too mean or scared you too much.” Holding his breath, he awaited the other’s angry yelling only to hear a laugh instead. 

“She is quite intimidating for such a small thing,” Nico chuckled. “But so is my sister. Is that why you called? To apologize?” 

Yes. “No,” his traitorous voice replied before he could even think about it. There was an awkward silence, neither knowing what to say.

“Rae Sunshine!” the stage manager shouted through the door causing him to jump. “Ten minutes until show time!” He hadn’t realized how quickly time had passed by.

“I’m sorry,” Will apologized with a heavy sigh. “I have to go.”

“Oh, okay.” Nico replied sounding just as disappointed as Will felt. “Good luck with your concert. I’m sure you’ll be amazing.”

“Thank you,” Will smiled feeling a calming warmth spread through his body. “And Nico.”

“Yeah?”

“Maybe when I get back to New York,” he took a deep breath. “We can pick up where we left off? I really enjoyed spending time with you last night.”

“Are...” Nico paused, longer than Will was comfortable with making him question himself again. “Are you asking me out?”

“I’m sorry,” he quickly apologized hating himself for being so bold. “Just forget it. It was a stupid idea. I should have....”

“I would like to try it,” Nico interrupted his rambling. “I enjoyed last night too.”

“Really?” he blinked, completely in shock not only due to the fact that Nico had said yes, but also from all the terrible memories of his past relationship. So many emotions were at war within himself that he felt like he couldn’t breath. He wanted so badly to forget the past and live for the future, but he didn’t know if he could handle the possibility of being hurt again. 

“Rae Sunshine,” the stage manager called again. “Five minutes!” Again, the stage manager’s call made him jump, causing him to let out the breath he didn’t even know he had been holding. 

“Will,” Nico’s asked, concern laced in his voice. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah,” Will shakily answered still finding it hard to breathe, signs of a panic attack falling into place. “I’ll text you later. Bye.” He hung up before the other could say any kind of farewell, hands shaking. He looked into the mirror surprised to see Rae Sunshine staring back. 

“The show must go on.” she whispered to herself as she gently set the phone down stealing one last glance in the mirror. A perfect smile greeted her as the mask settled in place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhg, I the chapters are getting shorter and shorter.... I just need to buckle down next time and power through. lol

**Author's Note:**

> Like it? Love it? Gotta have it? - coldstone


End file.
